Plasma TV Just Died

xsmi

OK Guys my Sansui Plasma from 2006 finally gave up the ghost. I need a new TV but my budget is $500 or less. What do you guys recommend. What's the best $500 can buy. I know it's not a whole lot, but that's all I got. I'd prefer another plasma but if I have to go LCD or LED I guess i could do that as well. I'm replacing a 42" now and I'd like to stay at that size or larger if I could find one for less than 5 bones.

jeremymarcinko

Samsung plasma 43" model PN43F4500AFXZA. Just google the model, its under $500 just about everywhere. Not bad at all for the money, My neighbor just bought one.

ZLTFUL

Also maybe check in with John (Nooshinjohn) and see what kind of a deal he can get you on something.

cfrizz

A tv that only lasts about 8 years??? How long do LCD/LED's last? I have a 32" Sony XBR that is going on 20 years old and just keeps on ticking with a brilliant picture. If the TV's being made now only have this short life expectancy, I think I will keep my Sony till it dies. Probably in another 20 years.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Uh, I wouldn't use Sansui as the longevity benchmark for all all current TV technology. That whole comment sounds kinda silly to me. You can't really gauge an entire industry off of one product failure, or even a few.

billbillw

I wouldn't expect any TV built these days to last more than 5-7 years. TVs aren't built the way they used to be. They are disposable now. They rate the panels for 20+ years of life, but the rest of the components won't last anywhere near that long. My new mantra is pick a size, then buy the most affordable model from a reputable brand (Samsung, LG, Sharp, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic). I'm sure many won't agree, but I've seen too many TVs die out of warranty over the past several years.

xsmi

Yeah, please don't use this one as the standard bearer. It has served me for a LOT of hours of that eight years as there were days on end where it ran 24/7. And it was the ONLY 42" plasma at the time that could be had for less than $2K. (They left the tuner out of it). So I think I got my moneys worth out of it over these years. Three years ago the HDMI board started acting up so I have everything plugged into the component inputs and now I think the power board is going out. For the last couple of months I would turn it on and it would click but not come on right away. This progressively got worse until this morning it won't even click. I've seen videos on line where they say that caps may be bad in it and I would just need to open it up and replace a few bulging cpas. However, I don't know how hard its going to be to get to the power board in a sansui because all of the videos I've seen have been for samsungs.

D_M

Xsmi,

Check the open box area of the electronic stores nearby. Sears is a good place to start. They usually have great deals on stock that they are trying to get rid of.

thsmith

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-PN4500-42PN4500-42-Inch/dp/B00BB1C140/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1388766535&sr=1-1&keywords=plasma+tv

Polkie2009

Someday all you young bucks will come to realize that a lot of the tv sets today(LCD,LED,Plasma) just aren't made with the same integrity as the old CRT tv sets that were made in the USA or Japan. I may take to exception for those of you who have Mitsubishi RP or Pioneer Elite Plasma TV's that are still running after 15-20 years. Those units were built to last.

cnh

I don't know about this. 2006 is still pretty old. Newer plasmas should last MUCH longer than that! And as far as LCD/LEDs failing, as I understand it, it's mostly cheap POWER supplies and not much else that goes--and that's a pretty simple fix!

Those panels should live up to their 20 year+ rating.

It is possible that in recent years, now that the major players realize that they MADE LCD/LEDs that last TOO LONG they may engineer sets to DIE more quickly but that was not true originally.

The same thing happened to consumer laser readers in CDPs. If you look at a cheap CDP from the last century or at least a decade ago, you'll find they last quite a FEW years. Sometime in the recent past a switch to a cheaper and less robust pick up which had an average life of 3-5 years at most was made in the average unit.

I have JVC from 1998 that still reads discs fine, and an old Sony '93 still pumping away? That's 20 years on the same laser?

cnh

pdxfj

Shouldn't be that tough to pull the back off the TV and from there it should be fairly obvious which board is the power supply. If you see bad caps and have the tools and ability to change them out, give it a go and see what happens.

Got nothing to lose since the TV is already dead..

Ducati Guy

I hear ya Polkie2009,
the Sony Cathode ray tube tv is still running perfectly in the guest bedroom, 15 years now, probably last another 15 years.
But my 1st plasma I bought 8 years ago (for the ridiculous amount of $2800 for a 42") died this year.
But the good news is the new plasmas are so cheap, got a 60incher LG plasma from bestbuy for $840!
I guess 10 years is a good life expectancy for plasmas?

disneyjoe7

Many TV's today don't have fans to help it cooling down, there's chips "IC's" which un-solder themselves.

rpf65

One Call has 2 Samsung and an LG in your price range, didn't check their open box deals.

billbillw

Power supplies may be the most common problem, but my brother had 2 Panny plasmas with panel failure, both happened when they were years old. My mother-in-law had the panel go bad on her 3 year old Samsung LCD. Sometimes its one of the boards that drives the panel, sometimes the panel itself. Either way, the cost to repair usually exceeds the cost of a new set.
It is rare, but it happens.
I have a 2007 Panasonic still going strong...

xsmi

So a buddy of mine generously GAVE me a Samsung LN46A650A1F, 46" LCD HDTV. There's one catch though, when you fire it up, the picture has horizontal lines and a ghosting effect that last about 20 min. I picked it up last night. The research I done so far suggest a bad T-Con Board. I haven't been able to locate one though. Suggestions?